Well, we have no idea what inspired this but she suddenly decided that tonight was the night she was going to walk! Leading up to this, she had taken a few solo steps, here and there, but tonight she made a major break for it and was loving every minute of it. (So were we!)

Look at these nice guys, taking Maggie around the Philly Museum of Art! I don't know that she was particularly interested in Duchamp or Brancusi but I'm certain she enjoyed the walk.

We headed up to Philadelphia over the weekend so that we could bid farewell to two of our good friends who are moving to Hong Kong. In fact, they are en route today and I wish them the best with lots of anticipation for their great adventure.

Maggie is changing a lot right now. She is very verbal and seems to get the gist of what you're saying most of the time, whilst babbling her own opinions and matter-of-facts. Tonight, she refused to be spoon fed and decided this was a task she could handle alone. Sure enough, she managed bite after bite (with plenty of misses and spills in between). She really likes to mimic actions and has a can-do attitude about brushing her hair or her teeth and reading books. Ohhh the books... she and Graham read 15 this afternoon. (Fifteen!) Then tonight I read her a few more at bedtime. My favorite was a line from a Toby book where the mama mouse says to her little mouse, "Oh Toby, you make everyday special to me." I know what she means.

We're having a Maggie and Momma day, today. There are some weeks when I feel like I barely get to see her and reserving Saturday becomes a necessity. No chores, no errands, just play.

The weather was warmer today, so we headed over to our park for a bit. There are great trails and I looked forward to practicing her walking and helping her gain some confidence. She's so funny. She has been on her feet for months and traveling along the edges of furniture but the thought of letting go of a hand (or couch, or table) still doesn't sit right with her.

I think the park was a great diversion because after just a short time of holding both of my hands (with me walking behind her) she confidently let me take one away. Soon we were walking side-by-side, holding one hand, and marveling at the dogs and squirrels and passers-by. She's still not free-walking but it was a big accomplishment for her and you could see it written all over her face.

As fun as that was, my favorite part of our outing was watching her observe and seeing her response to little wonders like sticks and pebbles. During our walk, she immediately honed in on acorn caps and insisted on stopping and picking them up. Most of them were tossed back but three were handed to me for keeps.

One for Nanna, one for Pop Pop, and one for Dad.

We finally had a proper birthday party for our dear girl, complete with crepe paper, cupcakes, and favors.

We're lucky to know so many nice people that care about Maggie and who decided to spend this day with us. We could tell she was enjoying the sights and sounds of people around her and I know we enjoyed the chance to celebrate our first year as a bonafide family.

It's difficult to remember our life before we were sharing it with this little girl. What did we do all day? What were dinners like when it was just the two of us? What did I plan for and what did I daydream about without Maggie to occupy those thoughts?

Whatever those thoughts were, I'm so grateful that todays are full of joy and lots of anticipation for great things to come.

I stayed home with Maggie today and took her to her 1 year physical while Graham went to work. It was not her usual delightful visit with fun stats and sweet behavior. Over the past week or so, Maggie has been discovering the art of defiance and that if you scream loud enough, the chances of getting your way greatly improve. We have been reasoning that this behavior came along when she started feeling sick and I believed (and still hope) that once these last traces of her cold go away her spirits might improve, too. For now, we'll have to learn how to manage blood curdling screams as the pediatrician checks her eyes and ears and Maggie's brute strength as she attempts to maneuver out of your arms while her measurements are being taken.

Speaking of measurements, her stats showed that she is still beyond the 95th percentile for height but that she has now dropped to the 25th percentile for weight. Sigh... That's not good. I had a hunch that we might not see much of a weight gain due to her recent lack of appetite but, wow, wasn't expecting a drop.

When we left the office, my mind started working through all the wonderful new foods we could try. Something to whet the appetite and get her excited about food again. Certainly, nothing we had in the pantry was doing the job so we scoured the aisles of the grocery store looking for fun new things. We picked out beef ravioli, chicken fingers pumped up with cheese and broccoli, a block of munster cheese, and all sorts of new goodies. I even bought ingredients for dumplings and spent the afternoon wrapping up little wonton pouches of tasty pork. Fifty dollars later, Maggie ate half a fig newton for lunch, another fig newton for dinner, a few bites of Gerber carrots and called it a day. Not the response was looking for.

On the bright side, those dumplings were good. More for me and Graham, I guess.